Fran Venter / Member Interview

Fran Venter is a photographer based in Pretoria, South Africa. After High School Fran wanted to pursue a career in music. While doing music Fran developed a growing passion for photography and travel. With some traction and support on Instagram he dropped out of music school to pursue an new dream of becoming a travel photographer.

Since December 2013 he has spent most of his days sleeping in his car and camping under the stars photographing most of what South Africa has to offer. In his own words “ It has been the hardest and most beautiful two years of my life, amazing things will happen when you work hard and put the time into the thing you love doing”. In this time he has developed his own unique style of picture taking that has been recognised by other world famous photographers and it will leave you speechless.

Location

South - Africa, Pretoria.

What inspired you to become a photographer?

After the first two weeks that I downloaded Instagram in early 2012 I discovered a guy called Jared Chambers, who was really far ahead of his time compared to the others guys doing the Instagram thing, seeing his work really inspired me to pick up a camera and go shoot. Traveling, meeting awesome people, I was constantly daydreaming about it.

Tell us about your first photo that really validated your interest as a photographer.

I guess it was when I was 16 years old. All the senior students at my school had to do a national student convention and sign up for three competitive activities, one of mine ended up being photography because I thought it was going to be easy. I ended up winning second place out of 1000 student entries. The photograph that won me second place was of a white horse standing solo by a reflective dam with misty forest trees in the background.

What do you enjoy photographing the most?

Landscapes will always be my favourite. Theres nothing like experiencing a sunset on top of a mountain and taking photo’s of great photographers. Shooting portraits is a close second, I will definitely make more time for that in the near future.

What has been your proudest moment as a photographer?

Probably the first time someone asked me if they could buy one of my prints. Its a good feeling knowing that someone likes your work so much that they want to put it one their wall.

How do you feel photography has impacted the way you see the world?

I constantly find myself analysing light and textures now and seeing how landscapes change is always so amazing to me, especially in a place like Namibia. Mind blowing, absolutely beautiful. I also find it hard not to take photo’s nowadays, like when I go on holidays.

What is your best photography related tip?

Keep it simple. People relate better to a clean picture. Good composition and small amounts of editing is key.

What would you like for people take away from your work?

I always hope that people can relate to my photographs. I want to take them back to a memory or a feeling they have for that location, or give them a longing to visit that place.

What are some ‘must have’ items in your camera bag?

I really don’t have a massive camera rig. Just some clean memory cards, extra batteries and a backup hard drive with some series and movies on it incase you have to spend the night in your car.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what is the ONE photography book you would want to have with you?

Definitely one of Koos van der Lende’s (South African landscape photographer) books. Probably his latest book “Moments of Grace.” His work really inspired me while I was studying.


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